One man and 127 hours stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The premise is simple, but nothing short of thrilling.
Danny Boyle, director of 2008 Oscar darling “Slumdog Millionaire,” takes on an entirely different concept in his latest film project.
Set in the rugged canyons of Blue John Canyon, Utah, “127 Hours” is based on the true survival story of rock climber Aron Ralston’s five-day entrapment under a boulder in an isolated canyon fissure in April 2003.
The film features Boyle’s signature artistry from the onset, opening with a collage of split screen images of people ““ bustling through subways, crowding city streets, eventually focusing on one. Experimental use of light and perspective create visually provocative nature-filled compositions. Time-elapsed skyscapes and the sun’s passing rays over smooth stratifications of sanded stone walls blanket much of the film’s backdrop.
UCLA alumnus James Franco takes on the tenacious lead role as Ralston, an adrenaline junkie with a “devil may care” attitude of adventure. Sporting ample scruff, cargos, dusted hiking boots and a mischievous smile to match, Franco is a fitting thrill seeker.
Beginning just the day before a routine biking and hiking trip through Moab, Utah, we see him carelessly collect his gear ““ haphazardly perusing his closet, forgetting the gleaming Swiss Army knife in the corner while also ignoring a phone call from his mother. Sensory flashbacks of his packing later haunt Ralston when his hiking trip turns into a battle for his life after slipping on a loose rock that sends him plunging 65 feet into a canyon ““ his right arm trapped by the rock responsible for his fall.
The film is an exhilarating dose of emotion, from the wild biking and cliff diving of Ralston’s first afternoon to adrenaline-filled images of sheer survival in the narrow crevice space. The glaring glow of Ralston’s digital watch face is a constant reminder of his increasing peril.
Aside from an early encounter with a pair of inexperienced hikers, Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn), and flashes of childhood and past lovers, the film is dominated by Franco.
The role is arguably Franco’s largest undertaking yet, reflecting fierce emotional mastery of a man through a five-day spectrum of exhilaration, panic, delirium, fear and excruciating pain.
Even with Ralston lodged between a rock and the canyon wall for the vast majority of the 94-minute film, the plot never wavers in intensity. Psychological flashbacks and nightmares are artistically woven between Ralston’s confinement ““ all of which he documents on a handheld video recorder.
“My name is Aron Ralston. My parents are Donna and Larry Ralston of Englewood, Colorado. Whoever finds this, please make an attempt to get it to them,” Ralston says with a straight-faced austerity.
Ralston records himself daily, explaining his methods of escape, sharing daily observations of a passing raven, showing his diminishing water and food and addressing the loved ones he begins to fear he’ll be lost to.
Driven by an emotional transformation and desire to live to see his family, Ralston is able ““ even near starvation and bridging hysteria ““ to devise a plan.
The film culminates with Ralston’s ultimate decision for escape by self-amputation via a dull pocket knife. The mind-boggling test of strength reverberates through the audience with perhaps the clearest reflection of what it means to put mind over matter.
There is blood, a lot of blood. Fortunately, this is a true story and we already know that Ralston survives. That being said, you will need to close your eyes, probably more than once, but it will definitely be worthwhile.
E-mail Roberts at lroberts@media.ucla.edu